Real Madrid midfielder Mahamadou Diarra will miss the rest of the season after learning that he will have to undergo knee surgery. The Malian international originally suffered the injury while on duty for Les Aigles against Chad on October 11, but returned to action two weeks later. However he aggravated the injury in a recent La Liga match, and is now expected to remain on the sidelines for anywhere between six and nine months.
Some big transfer news ! And it is really big !!!
Real Madrid have announced that highly rated Ajax striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar will join them in January. Los Blancos will pay Ajax an initial €20m fee which could rise to €27m depending on his appearances and other clauses. When the deal does officially go through, Huntelaar will become the sixth Dutch player in the current Madrid team, with Arjen Robben, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael Van der Vaart and Royston Drenthe being the other four.
Huntelaar has already passed a medical, and should he agree to personal terms, will be at the Bernabeu till June 2013. The 25 year old will also be eligible to compete in the latter stages of Madrid’s Champions League campaign this season.
Huntelaar’s former club, SC Heerenveen, will also get some €2.5 million from the deal. Huntelaar had joined Ajax from Heerenveen for €9 million + incentives in 2005.
According to reports in the Spanish press, Manchester United are considering a £5 million pound bid for Real Valladoid keeper Andres Sergio Asenjo. The 19 year old stopper is being looked at as a long term replacement for Dutch veteran Edwin Van der Sar, who is hanging up his boots soon.
This is not the first time a major club has shown interest in Asenjo. Aston Villa, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur were linked with him, and so were Barcelona. Asenjo reportedly had a £3.3m buyout clause (4.5 million euros) in his contract which was increased to around 6 million euros after he signed a new deal in January 2008.